Are you, or do you know someone, considering a career in general practice in Australia ? Could you use more confidence in your knowledge of the basic requirements for a smooth and enjoyable general practice career? Answering ‘yes' to either of these questions means that GP Pathway module two may be for you!

gplearning has released the second activity in the GP Pathway program (a series of online educational activities that provide comprehensive resources supporting medical students and doctors to become proficient GPs in Australia ). GP Pathway module two, Fulfilling the fundamentals – overview of Australian general practice requirements, is designed for Australian and international medical students, and graduates of varying experiences and qualifications, who are interested in a career in general practice in Australia . In addition, the module will be useful to anyone curious about the nature of Australian general practice.

By the end of GP Pathway module two participants should be able to:

• Demonstrate familiarity with key organisations and health administrative systems that affect general practice, eg. Medicare, Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and WorkCover.
• Describe the roles of, and assistance provided by, six Australian organisations associated with general practice training.
• Identify at least two uses of the RACGP Curriculum for Australian general practice.
• Appreciate that rural and remote general practice requires different training to city general practice.
• Discuss key medicolegal issues relating to confidentiality, consent, prescribing and reporting.
• Recognise the importance of reviewing and implementing effective practice systems that create safeguards in the event that both the GP and patient fail to follow up tests that are likely to be clinically significant.
• Confidently analyse personal continuing professional development (CPD) needs and outcomes.
• List three key areas on which doctors should focus to improve self care.

It is expected that GP Pathway module two will take approximately 3 hours to complete. GP Pathway module two has been approved for six Category 2 points for the QA&CPD Program 2008–2010 triennium.

Completion of GP Pathway module one is a prerequisite for participation in module two.

In “Communicating with people with intellectual disability”, we follow four people living with varying levels and types of intellectual disabilities: Sara, Jacqui, Colin and Chris. This activity will help to identify and address the communication barriers encountered during a general practice medical assessment and help ensure optimal care is provided for patients with intellectual disability and associated communication difficulties.

After working through this module you should be able to:

• describe your own attitudes towards and assumptions about people with intellectual disability and associated communication difficulties;
• compare and contrast how different levels of intellectual disability may impact on communication;
• recognise various communication methods and tools used in interpersonal communication and the ways in which people may communicate when they have difficulty using speech;
• appreciate your role as communication partner when seeing a patient with communication difficulties, and the ways you can optimise effective communication;
• identify sources of communication resources, aids and equipment for people with intellectual disability; and
• appreciate the rights of people with intellectual disability to live independently and access and participate in their communities, and your role in supporting them to do so;
• be cognisant of the centrality of effective and efficient communication in people's physical, emotional and social wellbeing across their lifespan; and
• identify at least four environmental/consultation context factors that need to be systematically managed by a general practice to ensure that the health needs of a person with an intellectual disability are accurately assessed.

“Communicating with people with intellectual disability” adds to the growing suite of disability in general practice resources now available on gplearning, which are closely aligned to the learning objectives of the disability statement of the RACGP curriculum.

Links and resources for further information and advice are also available from within the activities themselves.

“Communicating with people with intellectual disability” was developed with the support of the Australian Government and written by Monash University , Centre for Developmental Disability Health Victoria (CDDHV).

The CDDHV was established through a joint initiative of Monash University and the University of Melbourne and is funded by Disability Services, Dept of Human Services, Victoria.

This activities is eligible for RACGP QA&CPD Category 2 points.

Using a case based approach, the module “Challenging/problem behaviours in people with intellectual disability” provides an approach to examining the issues that arise in general practice when treating patients with intellectual disabilities exhibiting challenging behaviours.

After working through this module you should be able to:

• succinctly describe a behavioural presentation;
• appreciate the possible causes and implications of the behaviour including physical, social, environmental, medical, psychiatric and developmental factors;
• explain the impact aetiology may have on behaviour;
• develop skills in the systematic assessment and management of a behavioural presentation including issues relating to safety and carers;
• describe how medication, medical and psychiatric conditions may affect behaviour;
• recognise common psychiatric disorders in people with intellectual disability that may present with disturbed behaviour; and
• appreciate the importance of using a daily behaviour record to provide objective, reliable and extensive information on which to base management decisions for people with intellectual disability who have challenging behaviours.

“Challenging/problem behaviours in people with intellectual disability” adds to the growing suite of disability in general practice resources now available on gplearning, which are closely aligned to the learning objectives of the disability statement of the RACGP curriculum.

Links and resources for further information and advice are also available from within the activities themselves.

“Challenging/problem behaviours in people with intellectual disability” w as developed with the support of the Australian Government and written by Monash University , Centre for Developmental Disability Health Victoria (CDDHV).

The CDDHV was established through a joint initiative of Monash University and the University of Melbourne and is funded by Disability Services, Dept of Human Services, Victoria.

These activities are eligible for RACGP QA&CPD Category 2 points.

Can you confidently differentiate between—and manage—postpartum blues, depression and psychosis?

Effective identification and treatment of childbirth-related mental illness is critical: the most likely time that a woman will be admitted to psychiatric care is in the first month following the birth of a child and 10–15% of women develop a significant mood disorder after giving birth.

‘An overview of childbirth-related mental illness' is a newly available gplearning activity that assists general practitioners and practice nurses to understand important perinatal mental health issues. It is based on a live audio recording of a presentation by Dr Klara Szego, Director of the Mother–Baby Unit at the Mercy Hospital for Women, Victoria. The activity focuses on the causes, diagnosis and management of postnatal depression (PND) and also reviews other perinatal mental illnesses. Participants see the MS PowerPoint slides and hear Dr Szego's voice.

The activity takes approximately 30 minutes to complete and involves a short questionnaire that needs to be completed before and after the presentation. Completion of the activity is approved for one Category 2 point in the RACGP QA&CPD Program.

By the end of this activity participants should be able to:

• Differentiate between postpartum blues, depression and psychosis.
• List at least three biological, psychological and social causes of PND.
• Use the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) to formally and confidently identify women experiencing PND.
• Discuss the three major forms of management for mental illness related to childbirth: medical, psychological and social.
• Discuss the risks and benefits of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and tricyclic antidepressants for the management of childbirth-related mental illness.
• Appreciate the role of mother–baby units.

This activity is an online discussion based on your completion of a pre-requisite activity. The discussion will be moderated, but is based on a pre-requisite activity topic area. For this discussion, the pre-requisite activity is 'Strengthening Cancer Care: Psychosocial Support Module (PSM)'.

The moderators for this discussion is Dr Ron McCoy and Ms Mandy Macdonald.

Doug McAllister is an 63 year old sales executive who has been a patient of yours for many years, whom you know well. Doug presents complaining of shortness of breath on exertion and fatigue over the past two months.

This month's Case of the Month is co-moderated by David Eccleston and Dr Ron McCoy.

The case is of relevance to all GPs and Registrars and we look forward to hearing anecdotes of similar cases that experienced GPs might be able to share. Participants in the RACGP QA&CPD must make at least 3 postings relevant to this case to earn two Category 2 QA/CPD points.

What is care planning? What is the Medicare reimbursement involved? As part of a continuing series in the management of patients with intellectual disability, gplearning has just released Module 4: Care plans and working with services for people with intellectual disability. Care planning involves the entire general practice team and for this reason, this is suitable for general practitioners, practice nurses and the entire multidisciplinary team.

A care plan is a critical part of managing the health and well-being of a person with intellectual disability and this module covers those patients who need a care plan, what this entails and what Medicare will reimburse for services provided. The module takes a case based approach and will take you approximately 90 minutes to complete.

After working through this module you should be able to

• Identify patients who would benefit from a care plan.
• Describe the requirements, structure and regulations of the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) care planning items.
• List the other professionals and services that could usefully contribute to the care plan and how to involve them.
• Prioritise management goals and use the structure of a care plan to contribute to meeting those goals.
• Describe how the routine use of care plans can help prevent potential health and well-being problems from being missed.

In addition, this module has been linked to the RACGP Curriculum for general practice learning objectives, so is an ideal introduction for best clinical practice of the management of intellectual disability for general practice registrars.

Links and resources for further information and advice are also available from within the activities themselves.

This educational activity was developed with the support of the Australian Government and written by Monash University , Centre for Developmental Disability Health Victoria .

The GP Pathway program is a series of online educational activities that provide comprehensive resources supporting medical students and doctors to become proficient GPs in Australia.

Module one of GP Pathway (‘Setting the scene – an introduction to becoming a GP in the Australian health system’) will be useful to anyone curious about the nature of general practice and how people become GPs in Australia but is specially designed for medical students and medical graduates of varying experiences who are interested in a career in general practice in Australia.

GP Pathway - Module 1 will be available free to all from 4 May 2009.

The module covers the following learning objectives (and takes approximately 2 hours to complete):

• Identify the role of the GP in the Australian health system.
• Recognise the importance of the multidisciplinary approach to health care in Australia.
• Appreciate the diversity of Australian general practices and how standards are set and maintained to ensure high quality patient care.
• Discuss the four main stages of the journey of general practice in Australia.
• Appreciate the context of the Australian healthcare system enabling the construction of an overview map of a personally appropriate pathway to unsupervised general practice in Australia.
• Recognise the need for systematic approaches to patient safety.

The first two modules of GP Pathway are requirements for international medical graduates seeking to enter into Australian general practice through the new RACGP Specialist Pathways.

Spread the word and enrol yourself! Anyone interested about the key elements of the journey of general practice in Australia is welcome to experience module one of GP Pathway.

This activity is an interactive presentation by Dr Patrick Kinsella with video case studies adapted from the Respecting Patient Choices e-learning course developed by La Trobe University in conjunction with Austin Health's Respecting Patient Choices Program. The activity was made possible with funding from the Department of Health and Ageing ( DoHA ).

At the end of this learning activity you should be able to:

• explain the principles of advance care planning
• better identify the opportunities for introducing advance care planning
• describe how to introduce systematic processes within general practice to identify patients who may benefit from advance care planning
• improve counselling about advance care planning through recognising when to discuss plans; how to identify common key issues facing patients with potential and actual illness; and discussing these in a sensitive and appropriate fashion
• explain how introducing advance care planning early can help prevent unnecessary and inappropriate treatment as well as minimise unnecessary guilt, stress and conflict for families and significant others
• better identify issues about capacity and informed decision making
• identify the legal requirements of advance care planning in the state or territory in which you work

These interactive activities offer the opportunity to revise knowledge and skills in the ever growing area of aged care.

Each activity is made up of 25 multiple choice questions covering a wide range of health conditions in older people and is suitable for general practitioners and practice nurses.

By the end of the activities particpants should be able to:

• Identify a range of common conditions that affect elderly individuals
• Demonstrate recognition of symptoms which indicate potential serious underlying pathology
• Be aware of the need to triage patients depending on the urgency of their condition
• Demonstrate ability to select and interpret relevant investigations
• Describe appropriate management options for these conditions
• Appropriately manage patients in nursing homes
• Understand the increased risk of potential adverse affects of medications in the elderly
• Consider what systems to have in place to ensure that results of investigations and referrals are followed up
• Consider having a system in place to prevent the prescription of drugs which may result in a harmful interaction.
• Identify threats to patient safety such as elder abuse and suicide
• Demonstrate improved understanding of treatment of palliative care patients
• Display awareness of travel as a factor in the health of older patients
• Understand the importance of assessment of fitness to drive in the elderly

If you have 80% or more of the questions correct, you may print a certificate of completion which entitles you to 2 Category 2 QA&CPD point for the 2008-2010 triennium. If you have not reached this standard on this occasion, you may re-enrol as often as required until you do so, learning from the feedback available. It is expected that the activity will take approximately 1 hour.

The Mental Health Category 1 ALMs available are: Psychosis, Depression and Managing bipolar in general practice.

Each ALM consists of 3 components: a Pre-Test (predisposing activity), learning modules, and a Post-Test (reinforcing activity).

The learning modules available in Managing bipolar in general practice are:

• Colin - GP case
• Tatiana - GP Case
• Treatment of depression in bipolar disorder - Presentation
• Treatment of mania in bipolar disorder - Presentation
• Patient & Carer Perspectives in Bipolar Disorder

The learning modules available in Psychosis are:

• Patrick - GP Case
• Patient and Carer perspectives in psychosis
• Pharmacotherapy of Schizophrenia - Presentation
• Emerging Psychosis in Young People - Presentation
• Andrea - GP Case

The learning modules available in Depression are:

• Gary - GP case
• Karen - GP case
• Rachel - GP Case
• Patient & Carer Perspectives In Depression
• Adolescent Depression Overview
• Depression Overview/Presentation
• Elderly Depression - GP Case
• Robyn - GP Case